Washing-machine



M. o GMMINGS.

WASHING MACHINE.

(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 14,1882.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'MARK C. OUMMINGS, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATIONV forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,588, datedFebruary 14, 1882.

' Application filed August 15,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, MARK C. GUMMINGS, of thecity of Des Moines, and county of Polk, and State of Iowa, have inventeda new and Improved Washing-Machine, of which the following is aspeciication.

Heretofore washing-machines havehad concave sheet-metal bottoms andconvex selfadjusting rubbers that rested upon clothing placed in thewater in the tub and between the corrugated surfaces of the concavebottom and the convex rubber.

My invention relates to the manner of com-V bining a detachablewash-board surface with a tub composed of semicircular wooden sides,wooden end pieces, and a dat sheet-metal bottom fixed to the curvededges of the wooden sides. f

Heretofore half round wooden bars have been placed in parallel positionto each other across the top surface of the` concave sheetmetal bottomof the tub, and secured by fixing end pieces to the tub to overlap theupper bars at each end ot' the inverted arch composed of the series ofparallel bars; but a wash-board surface thus formed to abut againsttixed end pieces will shrink, so the bars will become loose anddisplaced; and when they are in place offensive sediment gathers betweenand under them, that cannot be readily removed. To overcome theseobjections I provide a means for adjusting the bars relative to eachother and the ends of the tub in such a manner that the complete concavewashboard surface of the tub can be readily eX- panded and contracted atpleasure to compensate for the alternate shrinking and swelling of thewooden bars, and also in such a man-- ner that the complete series ot'bars can be readily removed at pleasure for the purpose of getting awaysediment that accumulates between and under them, and then againreplaced and fastened by means of detachable and adjustablekeying-pieces and xed re enforcing pieces, as hereinafter fully setforth.

Figurel of my accompanying drawings is a transverse section of a tub andwashing-machine of common form,'to which my improvement is applied. Fig.2 is a detail view of a section of my adjustable and detachablewashboard surface. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of acomplete machine, inwhich the series that form the concave wash-board surface in the tub arelocked together and in proper position for use.

AA are the semicircular wooden sides of the tub. Their corners are cutoit' square to receive the wooden end pieces, B, that are the detachablewash-board surface, for which latter purpose their lower edges are madetapering, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

l 2 3 4 represent a series of half-round wooden bars of uniform size,placed flat upon the concave sheet-metal bottom C, so that they will bein parallel position relative to each other, as required, to form acontinuous corrugated surface that will extend between the wooden sidesA, nearly up to the tapering under sides of the xed re-eni'orcing piecesd. To fasten and adjust this detachable Wash-board surface thus placed,I insert keying-pieces g, that have straight edges on one side, toengage the square ends of the removable wash-board surface, and taperingedges on their opposite sides, corresponding with the tapering edges ofthe tixed re-enforcingpieces d. By simplypmovin'g the keyingpieces g,thus placed, longitudinally by the pressure of the hand or by means of aham-j mer, they can be readily operated to adjust and fasten theremovable series ot' bars l 2 3 4 as required for use or loosen them asrequired for removing sediment or making repairs.

I am aware that keying-pieces of like form have been used` in printers7galleys and chases for locking up'forms, and for various other 9purposes. I therefore do not claim that there is novelty in the forms ofmy re-enforcing pieces and keyingpieces; but what I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is a novelcombination of common elements to accomplish the results contemplated.

IDO

ries of wooden bars l 2 3 4, and the adjusta-Y ble and detachablekeying-pieces g, substantially as shown and described, to operate in.the manner set-forth, for the purposes specifled.

' MARK C. GUMMINGS.

Witnesses:

L. A. WILKINSON, FRED HAMPTON.

